Kiros took the stage first. They were playing in very cramped conditions due to the small stage and the amount of gear necessary for all five bands, but they didn’t let the space limits hold them back. They launched into their track “Broken State,” setting the tone for a set that would pull almost entirely from their recent release Lay Your Weapons Down. Kiros’s performance was the most casual of the evening, mixing in a perfect amount of raw, reflective rock tracks with lighthearted banter between songs. They played their almost western-styled “Outlaws and Prodigals” and the earnest “Unshaken” before wrapping up with an older selection, “Hurricane.” The Canadian band urged fans to stop by their table later for “free Canadian high fives,” a final token of their tireless and enthusiastic dedication to connecting to their fans.

 

Recent Tooth & Nail addition Nine Lashes took the stage next. I’ve spent a few years observing their progress out of the obscurity of the independent rock scene to becoming one of the brightest new faces on the Christian hard rock market, and so my expectations for their live performance were high. Whatever expectations I had were completely met and surpassed by the end of their opener, “Our Darkest Day.” Carefully coordinated costumes and all red lighting painted their set with an intense, slightly dark vibe fitting for their hard-edged music. Their set continued with “The Intervention” and recent single “Get Back.” Much of the audience was being introduced to the band for the first time, and there could not be a better introduction. By the time Nine Lashes played their best-known track, “Anthem of the Lonely,” they held the complete attention of most of the room. They wrapped up with the scalding “Write it Down” before giving up the stage.

 

The next artist to step up has steadily earned a place as one of the hardest working performers of the past few years. Manafest has toured relentlessly on some of the biggest tours in the Christian music industry while still putting out a steady stream of new music, and his dedication and experience are evident in the way he takes over a stage like it was made for him. He started with his well-known single “Avalanche” followed by “Plan B,” both from 2010’s The Chase. Despite only being given a 5 song time slot, Manafest managed to make the set feel complete. He took time out before the poignant ballad “Every Time You Run” to talk about fear, faith, and a God who is still there to meet you every time you run. Picking up the pace again, Manafest presented a sample from his then-unreleased album Fighter, playing the title track with enough energy that by the end of the song the audience could pick up and sing along with the chorus. Manafest left the crowd with a powerful rendition of “Bring the Ruckus.”

 

The stage was cleared to make way for the main acts of the evening. Thousand Foot Krutch has been a strong presence in Christian rock for a decade now, but their fanbase is still stronger than ever--and growing. The crowd’s anticipation during the stage change was almost tangible. Thousand Foot Krutch was at a slight disadvantage due to having a flight to catch directly after their set and lead singer Trevor McNevan suffering from a severe cold, but they displayed dedication in taking the stage with nothing less than their usual full measure of passion.

 

This was Thousand Foot Krutch’s final tour before the release of The End is Where We Begin, and as a result they were playing selection based heavily on 2009’s Welcome to the Masquerade for the last time. Their set started off with the title track from that record, followed by the scorching “Bring Me to Life.” Drawing from some older fan favorites, Thousand Foot Krutch moved into the challenging, confident “Move.” The evening also presented a showing from their upcoming album. “Let the Sparks Fly,” the latest dynamic single from the Canadian rockers, brought the performance up to a new level. Here touring guitarist Ty Dietzler was at his finest, leading the songs with his aggressive guitar work. By this point the energy levels in the room were high enough to make the arena anthems “Fire it Up” and “Rawkfist” more than appropriate. The band wrapped up the set by completing the overview of some fan favorites, drawing on “Falls Apart” (from The Flame in All of Us) and the old school “Puppet” (from their label debut) as well as looking forward with “The End is Where We Begin.”

 

Thousand Foot Krutch is a rare rock outfit who has the energy, the passion, and the heart to fully back the massive front of powerhouse arena rock riffs. Trevor McNevan took time to speak honestly to the crowd about their heart for Christ, humbly thanking the fans for being there and bearing with him. Throughout the evening, the smile never left McNevan’s face, a clear sign that he is one of the few who honestly seems to be having at least as much fun as the crowd when he takes the stage each night. Fans easily could have gone home happy after such a satisfying set.

 

But there was more to come. With four bands’ gear now cleared from the stage, RED had plenty of room for their set. The room went dark and the heavy electronic intro drifted into the room, punctuated by the eager screams of the audience. Slowly dim red lights illuminated the stage, outlining massive gears, pipes, and smoke stacks. As the band took the stage, dressed in jumpsuits with metallic implants wired to their arms and legs, the gears began spinning to herald the gritty, oppressive rock masterpiece “Feed the Machine.”

 

RED’s taste for theatrics has increased over the past few years as they’ve gained more recognition and built up a three album discography, and the attention to detail in their stage set-up proved this. From the black coal-like paint smeared over the band members’ skin to the dim, pulsing lighting reminiscent of a furnace, every aspect of the set’s performance perfectly backed the theme of many of their dark, almost industrial rock tracks.

 

Although eight of the songs on the evening’s agenda were pulled from last year’s Until We Have Faces, exploring ideas of identity in a mechanistic world, RED kept it well balanced with older tracks. End of Silence was represented early on with the cathartic “Let Go.” Red offered incredible renditions of “Lie to Me” and “Buried Beneath” before setting aside time for bass player Randy Armstrong to talk and introduce their mellow ballad “Not Alone.” Here Red demonstrated clearly that their songs and their stage set were rooted in a solid message of hope, a drive to sing about things that would last long after the heat on the venue floor had been swallowed by the cool air outside.

 

Texas native and drummer Joe Rickard treated the audience to a fantastic drum solo before the band took over with a sampling from each of their three albums with “Faceless,” “Already Over,” and “Confessions.” Red took time out before their anthemic “Who We Are” to encourage fans to avoid letting their faith become dependent on anyone else, no matter how good a role model that person might be or how much we might admire them--our identity has to grow out of something stronger and lasting.

 

Before the piercing, vulnerable rocker “Shadows,” lead singer Mike Barnes announced that he hoped to crowd surf from the stage all the way back to the sound board. The already tightly packed crowd pressed towards the center, and Mike took a running jump. As he sang, the crowd carried him back through the room, all the way to the soundboard and back out to the stage again.

 

RED slowed the set down a little with the hopeful “The Best is Yet to Come” before turning up the heat for “Death of Me” from 2009’s Innocence and Instinct. The stage went dark momentarily for a false ending just long enough for a keyboard to be set on stage. Bass player Randy Armstrong sat at the keys while his twin brother Anthony Armstrong pulled out an acoustic guitar. They moved into a beautifully stripped down, transparent rendition of their ballad “Pieces.” The final track of the evening was their first major single “Breathe Into Me,” which they have used to close every show for the past few years.

One of the most remarkable things about the evening was simply how strong it was all the way through. With five bands taking the stage, there was the potential for boredom or exhaustion to set in, but the energy levels remained almost impossibly high from beginning to end. Every single band had their own distinct flavor to bring to the table, but none of them were at all lacking. The REDvolution Tour was a perfect storm of beautiful set design, blistering, gritty rock riffs, and an equally intense passion for hope born out of darkness. Whether in the fresh tunes of Kiros and Nine Lashes, the tour-polished hip-hop/rock fusion of Manafest, the veteran arena rock of Thousand Foot Krutch, or in RED’s grungy and aggressive soundscape, the evening proved that rock is still alive and well.